Khamenei To Lead Friday’s Prayer

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead Friday’s Prayer in Tehran on 4 June to commemorate the 21th anniversary of the death of Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"This week's Friday prayer on 14th of Khordad [4 June] which marks the divine departure of the founder of the Islamic Republic will be led by the guardian of all Muslims [Khamenei] in the shrine of the late Imam Khomeini,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

The 4 June Friday sermon by Khamenei will be his first since his sermon last year, on 19 June 2009, in which he openly defended Ahmadinejad’s re-election a week earlier amid widespread and deadly post-election street unrest, later to be known as the Green Movement, questioning the fairness of the election and the legitimacy of an Ahmadinejad victory.

Friday’s Prayer in Tehran: Sermons and Protests

Rafsanjani Delivering Friday's Prayer Sermons
Tehran. 17 July 2009. Getty Images

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani today delivered the sermons at Friday’s Prayer in Tehran, calling for the release of the detainees of the post-election uprising in Iran and an end to restrictions on free press and freedom of expression. He said the country was in midst of a crisis and expressed hopes that today’s service was a turning point for future change in Iran.

Tens and probably hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets around the University of Tehran, the venue of Friday’s Prayer, and chanted slogans calling for release of political prisoners and in support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

The massive show of force by the opposition supporters was a major setback for the government.

The police used tear gas and batons to break out the crowd of people on nearby Enghelab and Keshavarz avenues.

Highlights of Rafsanjani’s sermon:

• Country is in midst of a crisis
• Today can be a turning point for change
• Detainees of recent events should be freed
• Sympathy must be given to those who have suffered during the recent events
• Creation of a political atmosphere of respect for freedom of expression and freedom of press
• IRIB [the state-owned broadcasting system] should help create an atmosphere of tolerance and freedom
• The period following the election was “bitter” days for people… all parties were losers
• People need to work within the existing laws
• If the Islamic Republic is not Islamic, then we will go wrong; if it is not a Republic, then it would not work

Karrubi to Attend Friday’s Prayer

Mehdi Karrubi will join Mir Hossein Mousavi at Friday’s Prayer service in Tehran tomorrow. Ayatollah Rafsanjani will be the Friday Imam and will deliver the sermons. The supporters of the opposition are expected to show up in large numbers. Meanwhile, Iran’s ministry of information (the country’s domestic intelligence agency) has warned against disturbances during and after the service.

The decision by Mousavi and Karrubi to attend, and their call on their supporters to do same, can potentially transform the routine Friday’s Prayer service into a show of force by the opposition.

Rafsanjani is not expected to criticize Ahmadinejad by name, but he might attack the government's heavy-handedness in suppressing post-election protests that has left more than 100 people dead. He might also demand the immediate release from prison of more than a thousand demonstrators detained during post-election demonstrations.

Normally, Friday’s Prayers, even the ones led by Ayatollah Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, attract crowds in low 5 figures. If more than 100,000 people turn up tomorrow in support of Mousavi and Karrubi, then the gathering would become a major victory for the opposition and a serious setback for the government.